1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to sports training equipment and, more particularly, to a system and method for training football players and for increasing a football player's strength, while also improving the player's technique.
2. Description of Prior Art
Successful players of American-style football may possess at least two important characteristics, namely physical strength and endurance, and highly developed functional skills and techniques for applying such strength and endurance to particular game situations and positions. For example, for a lineman, such as an offensive lineman, strength and endurance is required to block opposing players of similar or even larger sizes and strength repeatedly play after play. Good functional technique is required to ensure the lineman's strength is applied properly so that the player does not slip or the opposing player does not evade the block or such that the block does not result in a penalty such as for holding. Thus, in training football players, such as linemen, it is important to develop strength endurance as well as functional playing technique.
Various types of football training equipment have been developed and used to allow players to practice their techniques without facing off against another live player, and, in some cases, even without the need for the presence of a coach or trainer. A common example of such training equipment is the conventional football training sled for teaching fundamental and functional techniques such as tackling and blocking. A typical football sled includes a horizontal base, including one or more sled-like runners, and a padded vertical extension mounted at one end of the sled base. The padded portion of the sled may be sized and shaped to represent an opposing player. A lineman may practice blocking techniques, for example, by blocking against the padded portion of the sled, driving the sled straight backwards as he would an opposing player. Weight may be added to the sled to increase effort required to drive the imitated opposing player back off the line. Some more advanced training sleds include a mechanism which allows a player both to drive the sled backward and to lift the padded portion of the sled without lifting the entire sled. This simulates player hip rotation which converts the horizontal movement generated forwardly by the player into a force which a vertical component which tends to lift the opposing player so as to render him momentarily helpless. In at least one such training sled, the padded portion of the sled is mounted on a telescoping arm. A mechanism is provided which prevents rotation of the blockage pad upward unless the pad mounted on the telescoping arm has been driven rearward by sufficient amount. Spring resistant provides resistance to rearward movement of the arm. An illustration of such a training device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,272.
Typical football training equipment, such as training sleds are used as tools for training and practicing functional technique such as blocking, but do relatively little to increase the strength and endurance in the particularly functional application being taught or practiced. Furthermore, such training equipment is a tool for qualitative training only. With the use of such equipment, a coach or trainer can observe a player's technique and instruct him or her in required corrections and adjustments thereto. Such equipment does not provide for a quantitative measure of the effective application of the player's strength and endurance to the particular functional technique being taught in practice.
Moreover, while the apparatuses and devices of the past may provide examples of sleds having pads that can be driven, the prior art lacks a training device that simulates a game environment wherein a player is required to drive an opposing player rearward and also upward. Obviously, because not all players are built of the exact same height and shape, devices of the past did not provide a life-size dummy for performing such training and also failed to provide any type of life-size simulation that would simulate the movements of an opposing human player.
Further, the devices of the past failed to provide an indication of the power rating which provides an indication of the speed and power at which a player, such as a lineman, is engaging a life-size dummy and simultaneously driving the dummy in a desired direction. What is also lacking in the known devices of the past is that providing one or more of the combination of training devices with a capability of providing increased resistance as the player is driving the dummy upward and/or rearward, which facilitates increasing player's strength and endurance.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved training apparatus which overcomes one or more of the problems or deficiencies of the prior art.